The Democratic National Convention’s opening night live stream drew tens of thousands of simultaneous viewers to YouTube Tuesday night. But viewers who wanted to catch up on the speeches after the fact were left disappointed: The recording of the event was inaccessible, with an error message claiming that it was “blocked in your country on copyright grounds.”
It didn’t take would-be viewers long to voice their frustration on Twitter, with many ridiculing YouTube and copyright owners alike. Take this tweet from doubleTwist’s Jon Johansen, for example, who complained:
“Just got home from work and can’t resume the DNC stream because copyright holders hate America.”
However, YouTube claims it didn’t do anything wrong. A spokesperson sent me the following statement:
“After tonight’s live stream ended, YouTube briefly showed an incorrect error message. Neither the live stream nor any of the channel’s videos were affected.”
The error message has since been removed, but the video still isn’t available. Instead, YouTube’s site now says it’s private. The whole episode is still a little dubious, even after YouTube’s explanation – and the Democrats are definitely missing out on countless eyeballs. However, the good news is: If this really was an error message and not a copyright take-down, making the video available again should take the convention organizers not much more than two or three mouse clicks.
Developing story, check back Wednesday for additional details.
